The sounds of victory that had reverberated from all around Giants Stadium had quieted now and Herman Edwards was walking quietly underneath the stands toward his wife, Lia, who was waiting with a smile and congratulatory hug.

Edwards’ Jets had just dismantled the Chiefs 27-7 in what was, without argument, their most complete performance of the season, setting up an intriguing showdown for first place in the AFC East with the Dolphins Sunday in Miami.

This delicious scenario was made possible, at least in part, by a keen, perfectly-timed motivational maneuver made by Edwards on Saturday night.

“It was a gut feeling,” Edwards told The Post of he and his coaches walking out of the team meeting and leaving the players to themselves, without their usual message from the head coach.

“I’d been talking to the team all week and was setting this up,” Edwards continued. “I wanted to put the onus on the players. It needed to be done.”

Edwards said he looked at Curtis Martin and said, mostly with his eyes, “You’re up.”

“I had a feeling he’d say some things,” Edwards said.

Martin, a man of precious few words, rose to speak to the team in what players described as an impassioned, moving speech.

He was joined by Mo Lewis and Chris Hayes, who also had some words for the team, but the words from the deep-thinking Martin, as much a team leader with his actions on the field as there is in the league, were the ones that rang strongest in the ears of the Jets.

His message was simple.

“We talked about doing what we did today,” Martin said. “We talked about coming together as a team, playing a complete game, playing as one.”

That’s exactly what the Jets did in utterly manhandling the 2-7 Chiefs for their second home win in five games here this season.

“Any time Curtis Martin gets up to speak, people listen,” Jets’ LB James Darling said. “What he said I can’t really describe, but players were ready to play the game [Saturday] night. That carried over to [yesterday]. We were fired up.”

It’s elusive and intangible, but the chemistry that’s developing on this Jets team is unmistakable. These players like each other. They’re beginning to understand each other. And it’s showing in the results.

The 6-3 Jets have won three in a row and five of their last six. The only loss came to the 7-1 Rams, considered by most in the NFL to be the best team in the league.

The 6-2 Dolphins, meanwhile, who defeated the Colts yesterday, have lost to the Jets seven consecutive times.

“It’s going to be a showdown next week,” Jets’ CB Ray Mickens said, just about jumping out of his skin talking about the Miami game. “They’re tired of losing to us. We know they’re going to be ready for us. We’re going in there with out guns blazing.”

The Jets’ guns were firing yesterday as they got three rushing TDs and 113 rushing yards from Martin offensively, and they defensively turned the Chiefs over four times, scoring 17 points off turnovers.

They went up 7-0 on a one-yard Martin scoring run that capped a season-long 96-yard drive – one that included three catches for 47 yards by Wayne Chrebet.

They made it 14-0 with 24 seconds remaining in the first half when Martin burst around the left end on a 25-yard TD run on a fourth-and-one play.

The Jets took a 17-0 lead when a season-long 51-yard John Hall FG capped the opening drive of the third quarter.

And, after a Lewis fumble recovery, Martin’s third rushing TD of the game and 10th of the season gave the Jets a 24-0 lead, and then they were on cruise control – en route to Miami for that first-place showdown they’ve been craving all season.